Was Tonse a terrible illusion?
Certain conditions are known for causing optical illusions.
Those who have travelled in the extreme heat weather have at times been fooled by the refraction of light from the sky by heated air.
This causes a condition called a mirage, a projection of unreal things appearing to be true.
So this in a way can be argued in the similar manner that what we probably saw in this government before they took over was just a terrible illusion?
There’s a possibility that we were under so much pressure that forced us to settle for anything that looked different from DPP without questioning the validity and authenticity.
The political constraint that we faced in a way forced us to act with such an impaired perception and cognitive dissonance.
We believed lies and were somehow lured into accepting promises that were likely unrealistic.
In simple terms, ladies and gentlemen we might have been played big time.
What am saying is that maybe what DPP did to us could have possibly caused an impairment in our judgement so severely, restricting us in our scope to discern between what was real and what was not true.
It’s fair to an extent to think that we possibly could have been mistakenly persuaded to think that what we were settling for was good enough.
Yet what we had seen as hope ahead of us is now turning into gloom and sheer despondency.
The disfunction and corruption that is rampant right now with this government says a different story.
It paints a picture of a Déjà vu with a wrenching feeling that we have lived through this mess of a situation before. We have seen this horror movie before.
There is not a difference at all from what we saw with the previous government.
We could even be treading in a more dangerous path with this government than before.
Our problems seem to be just beginning and not going anywhere soon.
Truthfully speaking, most Malawians are feeling betrayed by the very government that was founded on a principle of servant leadership. What we are seeing is contrary to what we all expected .
There is constant deviation from the norms of social responsible behaviour and fiscal discipline by our leaders.
The overwhelming growing resentment and disappointment has left an impression in many that this government has failed to instil confidence.
There has been cross-cutting failures on all branches of government.
‘Corrosive impact’
Starting with the executive branch’s failure to coordinate, implement and enforce a credible policy direction.
We have on several occasions seen the President issuing executive orders and edicts publicly that are never implemented or are simply disregarded.
Government bills have made it to parliament without cabinet discussing them, and in some cases we have had the president express shock and ignorance of such developments.
And sadly even in the congressional house, we continue to see a clear display of lack of seriousness and depth by most of our parliamentarians.
Our legislators have shown little or no interest in anything constructive.
And going by the proposition of deficient quality in their line of deliberations in parliament, we can conclude that there is absolutely no one left to advocate for the poor masses.
We have seen our MPs passing laws without understanding what’s exactly encapsulated in those bills.
And shockingly our president has now and again assented and signed into law bills that have been hastily fast tracked without any consultation and considering the effects they would have on the poor.
What happened to that promise of prospering together?
How do we prosper together when these regressive laws are designed to take a proportionally greater amount of taxes and tariffs from those on lower incomes.
And to make it worse, the loopholes in these laws gives major corporations and banks an unprecedented advantage to become savage assailants on unsuspecting citizens.
Most people feel cheated and think that the leadership has failed to reassure them on the promises that they made.
The level of negligence and lack of seriousness by this government in dealing with national issues is quite alarmingly repugnant to say the least.
Just the other day, we saw in broad day light the ombudsman being gagged and restrained from carrying out her duties independently and free of any interruptions.
And just few days ago it was reported that the ACB Director was being pressured by top officials from the president’s party and other politicians.
What happened to that promise of the Rule of law? What happened to the promises of increasing the governance institutions capacity?
We all remember that from its nascent beginning the Tonse alliance was founded on the promises of setting a new mindset on how we were to be doing things.
They were believed, trusted and given a mandate to bring in a new tone for unified love of country rather than politics as usual.
This bar was set so high by the President and his Vice President. From one campaign rally to another, promises were made of how they were going to end corruption and restore the rule of law
We were told of the rubble that was going to crumble, and that ending corruption would be a development imperative and a first most priority.
But up to now we have not seen the facilitation of those special arbitration courts. The talk of a finance crimes court died a natural death.
The corrosive impact of this rubble has gone beyond what we could possibly anticipated.
Wahala
Just this past week the stories of Zuneth Sattar’s alleged criminal activities involving corrupt politicians and senior officials went awash on many media platforms.
With this kind of unsteadiness and dilly dallying, we are now left confused.
For most of us it’s too hard to swallow and accept that DPP could be that tough of an act to follow.
Many Malawians are anguished and hopeless.
Our economic security has completely evaporated as indicated by a declining per capita income and rising poverty exacerbated by high tariffs, unemployment and lack of economic activity.
There is a sharp and high rising head count ratio of poverty, within just a short time.
Our poverty gap is continuing to widen and increasing to record high.
And yet we still haven’t seen the president unveiling his plan on how his government is going to cut some costs to somehow resuscitate our dying economy.
One would have thought that by now these desperate moments would have called for desperate measures, and that our government should have been busy outlining some plausible solutions.
Unfortunately, we are in for it, it’s a rough ride, brace yourselves folks.
The best we can do is not to lower our expectations just for the sake of meeting our current situation.
As a parting shot, let me leave you with these wise words by Stephen King: “there’s no harm in hoping for the best as long as you’re prepared for the worst.”
Good is not good enough, they say “fool me once, shame on you, but if you fool me twice shame on me.
There is always next time, let us learn and grow from this.
If we allow this to continue then shame will be on us.
Your voice should count, pick up your phone and call your MP, ward counselor and party leaders.
Hold them accountable!!
Adios
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